The Mark of Cain

by Ruth Mellinkoff

Book Overview

For few verses in the Bible is the relationship between scripture and the artistic imagination more intriguing than for the conclusion of Genesis 4:15: And the Lord set a mark upon Cain, that whosoever found him should not kill him. What was the mark of Cain? The answers set before us in this sensitive study by art historian Ruth Mellinkoff are sometimes poignant, frequently surprising. An early summary of rabbinic answers, for examples runs as follows:...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1592442293
• ISBN13: 9781592442294
• Release Date: April 2003
• Publisher: Wipf & Stock Publishers
• Length: 188 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.3" x 7.7"

Customer Reviews

A concise overview

Mellinkoff's THE MARK OF CAIN was originally published in 1981 by the University of California Press. Focused primarily on material produced during the medieval period, Mellinkoff surveys the history of the legend of Cain and the nature of his mark as represented in literary texts and the visual arts from antiquity to the twentieth century. The book is fully indexed, contains a bibliography and endnotes, and concludes with 22 plates of reproduced artwork.